Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.
(courtesy of Goodreads.)

Review

A fortunate consequence of my reluctance to read Divergent was that Insurgent was already out by the time I picked up Divergent. I tore through Divergent in two days and was able to read Insurgent immediately. I almost wish I'd waited until Allegiant is released in October 2013.
Insurgent is just as much of a page turner as Divergent, although in a different way. It is chock full of action and heart-stopping romance. I was pleased that it does not fall into most of the second book stereotypes.

The bright lines of the factioned world we first learned about in Divergent started to blur by the end of the book. In Insurgent, gray is the predominant color. Nothing and no-one are pure good or bad. We see the insides of each of the factions in Insurgent. I love getting the details about each faction's lifestyle. None of the factions - even peace-loving Amity - are as simple as they seem.

We see the evidence of Tris's Divergent status in Insurgent. During most of Divergent, Tris predominantly acted as a Dauntless, since that was the faction she was trying to join. When she interacts with other factions, we see how she is both similar and different to almost all of the groups. We also see how she handles the trauma of the events in Divergent in both good ways and bad ways. I liked getting to know Tris better and she felt like a more three dimensional character in Insurgent.

Stereotypically, the love interest disappears in a second book. I was very happy that Tris and Tobias were physically together throughout Insurgent. You could argue, though, that Insurgent still falls into the stereotype, because circumstances caused the characters' interests to diverge. There were a lot of secrets.

Insurgent has even more action than Divergent. The plot leaps ahead a thousand miles with each new battle. It never feels like the characters are fighting merely to hold the reader's attention.The book has a complexity that few YA dystopian novels achieve. It reminded me a little of the third book in the Hunger Games series where the bad people don't seem quite as bad and the good people aren't quite as good - things change once you understand people's motivations.

Arguably, Insurgent is a better book than Divergent. There is more action, more character development, a more advanced plot. But I just wasn't feeling it. Don't get me wrong...I really liked it. But that indefinable *love* wasn't there. It's hard to put my criticism into words, although one thing I can definitely say is that the ending confused me. I recognized that it was a big cliffhanger, but I didn't quite get it. Guess I'll just have to read the next one. I suppose overall, it didn't have the magic of discovery or the wonders of new love that Divergent had. Regardless, I will be gobbling up Allegiant as soon as it is released.

I highly enjoyed this one and was even part of the over-uber-blitz/hype when it first came out (truly, I just did it so I could get my hands on the book early!). There's an amazing amount of action and forward-moving plot in this one...what's gonna happen next??

I was a part of the crazy hype when this bad boy came out (seriously...yikes), but it's one of the few I felt actually lived up to the hype! I'm so glad you enjoyed it, as well. Great review, Alison :)

Divergent was a so-so read for me. I read it at its height of popularity, which I think was a wrong thing to do. It didn't meet my expectations but I'm curious enough to finish the series. I'm waiting for the third book to come out before reading this one.

GREAT review!! I bought this one last year at release time but still haven't read it!! So behind, but I think I might need to wait to read this one directly before reading Allegiant. It's becoming a theme lately to wait to finish off a trilogy until the last book can be read after the second one!

Still, nice review! Looking forward to reading this one! Want to get the books done before the movie so no movie images impede my imagination!

You're lucky that you read them closer together and closer to the release of the third cause I don't remember the end of Insurgent at all. I guess I'll have to be sure to do a reread of the end. I really like this series and I'm glad you're enjoying it as well!

The first books are always magical but I agree that Insurgent held up well to Divergent. I loved the tension between Tris and Four. Yes, they had problems but I liked how they were handled. (& no love triangle - yay!)

I haven't read Divergent yet, even though I've heard nothing but good things about it and Insurgent (and I own them both...). Since this review assures me the second in the series is worth the read, I think I'll just wait for the third to be released. Great review :)

I think you did it right—reading them back to back is so much better than waiting. I remember having a tough time recalling Divergent when this came out, and it's going to be even worse when Allegiant releases. Glad you enjoyed this, though the ending was confusing. Hopefully all will be revealed in book three. Lovely review!

Interesting - you're one of the few people I've seen that says Insurgent is better than Divergent. I really liked both books, but I liked the first better. Thought Insurgent hinted too much but didn't give enough world-building info. I'm eager for the third book to come out. :)

Great review! I loved Divergent, really loved it! But Insurgent disappointed me a bit. Maybe it was the stereotype thing; I just didn't like Tris the way I liked her in the first book. I agree with you that the ending was confusing. Can't do nothing but wait for the third book! :)

I love your review <3 I haven't actually had the chance to read Divergent yet, perhaps I'll pace myself and space it and Insurgent out evevnly in the time until Allegiant? OH, who am I kidding? I'll gobble it up xD Again, great review :D

I've yet to read this, but I do have my copy already. I've been waiting so that way I wouldn't have to wait nearly as long to get to Allegiant. But now that we're only a few months away from its release think it might be a perfect time to finally get to this!

Yes, I felt similarly about this one - I didn't like it as much as the first book, but couldn't really pinpoint why. Though I seem to recall being a bit peeved with Tris' character. I was very confused with the ending, as well, and I wonder if there is anyone who has it truly figured out.